- A good way to facilitate other necessary actions
The decision of governors in the Southwest to ban travel to the region by closing all points of entry into states in the region from other regions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, while mandating wearing of face masks by residents in the six states from April 24 is an appropriate step in the circumstance of fast-growing number of coronavirus infections in the region.
Currently, the region accounts for over half of all coronavirus infections in the country. Restricting movement into and out of the region is a wise decision at a time that the World Health Organization (WHO) has just projected further infections in Africa.
Border closing will give the states more opportunities to concentrate efforts on improving capacity for testing, tracing, and treatment across the region, while reducing further inter-regional transmission of the virus.
That the Southwest Governors Forum has asked the president to support the ban on travels to the region well ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s April 27 review of national initiatives on the pandemic is salutary, as coordination of ban on travels into Southwestern states is bound to be easier to coordinate, now that there is a nation-wide travel ban, except for essential services.
It is, therefore, remarkable that President Buhari’s announcement of new steps to mitigate spread of the deadly virus includes travel ban across states for a period that overlaps with that of the region.
Banning inter-state travels nationwide ought to facilitate efforts by the Southwest and other regions to focus on other necessary measures needed to alleviate the national stress spawned by the pandemic.
Even now that the presidential proclamation on inter-state travel ban across the country has taken effect, the spirit of cooperation that informed the decision of Southwest governors to jointly enforce and manage closure of borders with other regions remains relevant for addressing other important aspects of the pandemic.
High on the list of what to do by governors in the region are planning strategies for improving COVID-19 testing, treating, and tracing of residents within the region.
If projections by WHO that Africa is only at the beginning of its curve, even with over 600 positive cases in the Southwest, governors in the region have a full plate in front them.
Apart from jointly mobilising resources for purchase of test-kits, arrangements to locally produce affordable face masks for residents in the states; joint training or re-training of paramedics for pandemic-related activities; and joint radio and television campaigns across states in the Southwest are projects waiting for the governors’ attention, despite the obvious efforts of Lagos State so far in these areas.
As maximisation of resources will be crucial for the fight against the pandemic, so will it be important in the post-pandemic era.
We commend the Southwest governors for their efforts to adopt a regional approach to fighting the deadly virus and urge them not to relent in sharing resources – intellectual, material, and logistical – towards fighting the pandemic.
There can be no better time for such cooperation. We also urge the governors to continue to share ideas on getting prepared for life after COVID-19 in the region.
Now that the border closure is nationwide, we expect that the other governors would also seize the opportunity to address other issues needed to compliment the ban.
